The official announcement of 'Failure to advance to the World Cup finals → President of the Football Association OUT' was made, but only six years ago, it was a European order... Italian leaders 'line resigns'

*This content was translated by AI.

Italy, which has won four World Cups, has faced an unprecedented disaster of failing to advance to the finals for three consecutive times. In the end, Gabriele Grabina, president of the Italian Football Association (FIGC), and Gianluigi Buffon, the legendary gatekeeper, expressed their intention to resign at the same time.

The Italian Football Association officially announced on the 3rd (Korea time) that President Gravina resigned in a surprise move to take responsibility for the failure to advance to the 2026 FIFA World Cup finals in North Korea and China.

It is the aftermath of the failure to advance to the World Cup finals. Gravina, who announced his resignation shortly after the meeting at the headquarters of the Rome Association, also led Italy to victory in Euro 2020 after taking office in 2018, but he was dishonorably withdrawn after failing to return Italy to the World Cup stage.

On the same day, Buffon, who was the head of the Italian national team, also announced his resignation. Buffon, who won the 2006 World Cup, said on his personal social networking service (SNS), "The goal was to return Italy to the World Cup. However, it was not successful, he said. "We decided that it was right to step down in a responsible manner in line with the resignation of Chairman Gravina."

He added, "It is appropriate to give the successor the freedom to appoint the best general manager he thinks."

The fall of Italian football is a record. In the European regional playoff pass-A final held in Bosnia and Herzegovina on the 1st, Italy lost after a penalty shootout after drawing 1-1 with Bosnia until overtime. As a result, Italy missed the ticket to the finals until the 2026 tournament, following the 2018 Russia and 2022 Qatar tournaments. Italy is the first country to fail to advance to the finals of three consecutive World Cup championships.

At that time, coach Gennaro Gattuso operated the best members, including Gianluigi Donnarumma (Manchester City), Nicolo Barella (Inter Milan), and Mois Keane (Fiorentina). In the 15th minute of the first half, Italy, which led by Moistin's first goal, was shaken greatly in the 40th minute when Alessandro Bastoni (Inter Milan) was sent off and fell into numerical inferiority. In the end, Haris Tabakovic scored an equalizer in the 34th minute of the second half, and Pio Esposito and Brian Cristante missed in succession in the penalty shootout, becoming the main characters of the tragedy.

The crisis in Italian football continues outside the stadium. European Football Association (UEFA) President Alexander Cheperin warned of the possibility of deprivation of the right to co-host Euro 2032, pointing to Italy's lagging football infrastructure. According to Gazeta Delo Sport, Chairman Cheperin strongly criticized, "Italian politicians must ask themselves why their infrastructure is at the worst level in Europe," adding, "If the stadium is not improved, it will not be possible to hold the 2023 Euro tournament in Italy."

The FIGC is scheduled to hold an election for the next president on June 22. Former Italian Olympic Committee president Giovanni is mentioned as a candidate.

Meanwhile, before resigning, Gravina reportedly asked Gattuso to remain in the team despite his failure to advance to the finals.

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*This content was translated by AI.